Green up your laundry room with cleaner, healthier products. Check out this interactive guide.

When it comes to saving energy, many Americans seem to get it — and at the same time they don’t get it at all.

That’s the takeaway from a new study by researchers from Columbia University, Ohio State University and Carnegie Mellon University who found that people are far more likely to focus on switching off lights or unplugging appliances than on buying new bulbs or more efficient refrigerators. But people’s perceptions of the relative savings of various actions are significantly at variance with reality.

“Participants estimated that line-drying clothes saves more energy than changing the washer’s settings (the reverse is true) and estimated that a central air-conditioner uses only 1.3 times the energy of a room air-conditioner (in fact, it uses 3.5 times as much),” the researchers wrote.

Continue reading: Delusions Abound on Energy Savings, Study Says

The size of new U.S. single-family homes completed in 2009 declined, dropping to a nationwide average of 2,438 square feet and reversing trend of the past three decades, according to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). New single-family homes were almost 100 square feet smaller in 2009 than they were in 2007, according to recently released U.S. Census Bureau data. One reason for the drop, NAHB noted, was homeowners’ desire to keep energy costs in check. This growing energy-efficiency consciousness is one of many trends that the association said was likely to continue.

Continue reading: Report: Home Size is Declining, Energy Efficiency a Factor

Alaska Airlines says it’s flown another test flight of landing procedures at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that can save fuel, reduce noise and cut emissions by a third.

The procedures, already used in Alaska and at several Lower 48 airports, use satellite technology to guide a plane to a landing. That permits the aircraft to fly a shorter, more direct and slower approach.

Alaska Airlines is working with the Port of Seattle, Boeing and other airlines to get Federal Aviation Administration approval to use the techniques at Sea-Tac. If so, Alaska Airlines estimates that more than 2 million gallons of fuel could be saved each year. The project began last summer, and this week’s test involved a 737 jetliner making eight approaches to the airport.

Low-tech Magazine, consistently highlighting how age-old low-tech solutions are thoroughly applicable in creating a more eco-friendly world, serves as a useful antidote to the usual high-tech hubris that infects much of the new green deal talk. A recent post on the newly established Traditional Knowledge Inventory is no exception.

Though not fully fleshed out yet, all of the topics are fascinating for lovers of human culture, and many offer great practical promise today and for the future. Here are just three examples that caught my eye; there are plenty more at the link above which are worth perusing for a while.

Continue reading: What’s Old Is New Again: Traditional Knowledge Inventory Informs Innovation

What can you and your family do to be kind to the environment TODAY? Here are 50 simple, earth-friendly actions.

 

1. Buy eco! Super cool and environmentally friendly shoes, purses, skateboard earrings, platters, picture frames, batteries, cars, and more are readily available these days
2. Recycle electronics, including computers, printers, cd players, and toys
3. Build a garden using native plants
4. Incorporate Integrated Pest Management practices into your garden
5. Buy groceries in bulk
6. Take a reusable bag to the grocery store
7. Ride a bicycle to work or to take care of errands around town
8. Watch environmentally themed movies such as Sacred Planet
9. Carry a reusable mug, everywhere
10. Use recycled-content copy paper

Click here for more.

In the US, where 40 percent of homes contain at least one, video game consoles consume 16 billion kilowatt hours of energy yearly. That’s enough to power the entire city of San Diego for about 12 months, say the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ecos Consulting, which conducted a study on the energy-efficiency of various game consoles last year.

Click here to read the full story.

For homebuyers, green is fast becoming a priority — whether it’s because they want to reduce their energy costs, minimize their carbon footprint or improve indoor air quality.

Here are 10 questions that prospective buyers or renters ought to ask to find out how green a house or apartment is.

Click here to read more.

Way beyond shipping container homes, these fresh green buildings are at the cutting edge of style and convenience.

Click here to read more.

Join Alaska IPL at the Pioneer Park Civic Center on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 from 11 am to 3 pm, for an inspiring community event — One People, One Earth.

This free, family-friendly event will infuse fun, faith, education and charitable opportunities to learn about environmental stewardship and how you, your family, schools and congregations can save energy, resources and money.

Click here for more information.